Best Hotel

Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark

There are these visitors who come to town twice a year, reliable as the equinoxes. For the sake of both anonymity and accuracy, let's call them the Parents. We're on journalists' salaries (print journalism, at that), so we don't exactly have a giant guest room — in fact, we don't have a guest room at all. So the Parents have become regular patrons of St. Louis hotels. They like the Chase, with its well-appointed rooms and proximity to Straub's (love that chicken salad!). They like the Omni, for its Old World charm and warm hospitality. But they love the Hilton at the Ballpark. The Parents aren't rabid Cardinals fans (c'mon, they're from out of town), so that's really saying something. What it's saying is: The Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark is so nice, so friendly, so amenity-packed that its gotta-see-it-to-believe-it views of Busch Stadium are merely one element of the hotel's appeal. All rooms boast plush Suite Dreams mattresses, ergonomic work desks and chairs, bath products from Crabtree & Evelyn, high-speed Internet access and more. And oh, those views! "Stadium View" rooms are best, but "City View" and "Landmark View" (that'd be the Arch) provide splendid vistas as well. You can usually count on finding a room for less than $200 per night; frequent specials knock that rate down to more like $100.